NixOS Configbuilder

Overview

This Nix Configuration Manager is a Go-based tool designed to facilitate the management of NixOS configurations. It allows users to select and download specific Nix modules and generates a new configuration.nix file based on the selected modules. The program also includes a backup feature that saves the current configuration.nix file before generating a new one.

Psst, check out my other project https://github.com/soltros/nixpkg.py if you're deploying a NixOS system with Configbuilder. It makes managing packages on NixOS much easier.

Prerequisites

Before you can run this program, you need to have the following installed:

1. Go Programming Language: The program is written in Go, so you need to have Go installed on your system.
2. Wget: The program uses wget to download Nix modules, so wget needs to be installed.
3. Go Modules: The ConfigBuilder app requires several Go modules and packages for its functionality.

Required Modules

The app uses the following Go standard libraries and external packages:

• Standard libraries:

  • fmt
  • os
  • os/exec
  • path/filepath
  • strings
  • log
  • io/ioutil
  • encoding/json
  • flag

• External packages:

  • github.com/charmbracelet/bubbletea
  • github.com/charmbracelet/bubbles
  • github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss

Steps to Install Modules

1. Clone the Repository: First, clone the ConfigBuilder repository to your local machine using Git:

   git clone https://github.com/soltros/configbuilder.git

2. Navigate to the ConfigBuilder Directory: Change to the configbuilder directory:

   cd ~/configbuilder

3. Initialize Go Module: If the Go module hasn't been initialized in your project directory, do so with:

   go mod init configbuilder

4. Tidy Module Dependencies: After adding the external package, tidy your module to ensure all dependencies are correctly listed:

   go mod tidy

Note on steam-deck-support.nix

The Steam Deck module is still being ironed out. Use at your own risk.

Note on Plasma 6 support

You'll need to enable kde-plasma6.nix in configbuilder. Then, use the unstable-setup.sh tool.

Note on BcacheFS support:

If you wish to install NixOS with BcacheFS, you need kernel 6.7, and the nixos.bcachefs-tools package. The current NixOS ISO ships with 6.1. As a result, you must generate your own ISO. Run this script to do that:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/soltros/configbuilder/main/tools/bcachfs-iso-builder.sh | sh

Note on Snap package support via snapd.nix

As of now, configbuilder supports setting up Snap packages on NixOS, via the nix-snapd project. However, before you can enable snapd.nix, you must run the installation tool. This tool will download the nix-snapd module, upgrade your NixOS system to Unstable, and build it. You can run the installer directly with the command below.

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/soltros/configbuilder/main/tools/snapd-installer.sh | sh

Note on Standard Libraries

The standard libraries (fmt, os, os/exec, path/filepath, strings, log, io/ioutil, encoding/json, flag) are part of the Go standard library and do not require separate installation. They are available by default with your Go installation.

Installation

Installing Go

If you don't have Go installed, do:

nix-env -iA nixos.go

Cloning the Repository

Clone the repository containing the Nix Configuration Manager code:

git clone https://github.com/soltros/configbuilder.git
cd configbuilder

Running the Program

To run the program outside of /etc/nixos/, use --dir.

go run configbuilder.go --dir /path/to/your/directory

For server modules, run:

go run configbuilder.go --dir /path/to/your/directory --server

To generate a configuration setup on a fresh install (like a live disk), use this flag:

go run configbuilder.go --dir /path/to/your/directory --fresh-install

To specify a new username and description, use the --new-user and --user-description flags:

go run configbuilder.go --dir /path/to/your/directory --new-user myusername --user-description "My Description"

This program is best built as a Go binary. You can build it yourself with:

go build configbuilder.go

This command will compile and run the program. Follow the on-screen prompts to select Nix modules and generate the configuration.nix file.

Notes

• If you wish to customize configbuilder.go, feel free. Read the usage guide first.
• Ensure you have proper permissions to create and modify files in /etc/nixos/.
• Run the program with caution, especially in production environments, as it modifies system configuration files.